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Archive for July, 2015

Manchester wordsmith Bugzy Malone played a sold out show at the 02 Islington Academy on Tuesday 28th August. He’s had a fantastic week with the release of his EP ‘Walk With Me’ reaching No.6 in the national album charts, along with the sold out show.

Hosted by Charlie Sloth who has been supporting the artist on his BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra show heavily, where Bugzy also hit the radio presenter’s infamous Fire In The Booth freestyle series. It was evident that Charlie along with other faces in the crowd such as Kiss 100 DJ Logan Sama and A&R Benny Scars also have faith in the 0161 artist.

Arriving at 9pm just as Bugzy hit the stage, I unfortunately had missed warm-up acts such as Potter Payper. The Mancunian Grime star brought a strong energy with him, bouncing around as he delivered his first lyrics to the captivated crowd.

Bugzy repeatedly got the crowd shouting “0161 Manny on the map”, as he moved from track to track such as ‘M.E.N’ a more personal track off the EP. He quickly began with one of his older tracks with an aggressive, delivery. He performed his Fire In The Booth which fans were eager to hear live and they spat the lyrics along with him.

As he moved to a track close to his heart about a family member passing, his storytelling technique in his rhymes really shone through, and his manner and attitude softened. He asked the crowd to put lights on their phones or with lighters and turned the stage lights off so he was barely seen and the audience was lit up as a mark of respect.

As he swiftly brought the energy back up, moving onto a track from his EP produced by Rude Kid ‘Watch Your Mouth’, which saw the MC return to his more passionate, powerful and lively state.

He controlled the crowd like only a true star can, getting them involved and bringing a quality stage presence. He truly had them walking with him as they knew every word to his lyrics and were like his soldiers. Bugzy Malone is the next Grime artist to blow so keep your eyes peeled on him!

East London MC, Rival has been on the road recently touring with Ghetts and The Skints in doing so has been busy and making his presence known. He’s joined forces with fellow East London’s So Large for “Voices”, with them both exchanging hot verses. They deliver fiery bars with energy over a heavyweight, vocal-led instrumental from Rude Kid. This is definitely one of my favourite grime tracks of the year.

Avelino – Money Over Everything

North London’s Avelino is destined for big things in the world of UK rap, which is currently at it’s healthiest stage ever. His music sees reflective lyrics, joined with experimental and often melodic productions. For his new track “Money Over Everything” which samples Wretch 32’s famous F64, Avelino tells Complex UK “It’s sick to have him jump on the tune, as well. ‘M.O.E’ is a song that, hopefully, you can turn up to but lyrically, it’s me admitting that I’m aware of our ignorance but it’s just the way it is .”

Espa – Pray For Me [My Nu Leng Remix]

Espa dropped her “Pray For Me” track back in May which saw the London singer show a vulnerability to her, over a garage beat reminiscent of from the 90’s. Now production duo My Nu Leng have given it the remix treatment taking it down a darker, bass heavy route.

Newham Generals ft Wiley – Scars

Footsie released his Scars EP via Butterz on vinyl earlier this year with the track originally being released in 2005 The classic Grime tune has now been given visuals, fitting the era it was originally made in, with memorabilia such as RWD magazine covers, Nokia 7600s, Lord OF The Decks DVDs and more. With bars from Newham Generals and Wiley this is one to keep in your music catalogue forever.

Blade Brown ft. Tigger Da Author – Drug Dealer

Blade Brown certainly did it big for his “Drug Dealer” video which is a favourite track amongst his fans off his Bags & Boxes 3 mixtape. Shooting the video in LA, we see Blade Brown with a luxurious car on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, also hitting the beach with his lady. See you can spot in the video as it includes celebrities such as Floyd Mayweather.

Venturing out on a Saturday evening for dinner can sometimes be hard when you haven’t booked anywhere and haven’t got the faintest idea of what you fancy eating as a group of friends. Deciding to meet in Maida Vale to walk along Little Venice, an area none of us had been out too a lot before, we came across a lovely looking restaurant with a nice ambience just off the river in Sheldon Square.

Starving we sat down at Massis Lebanese, a grill and bar. With it being a nice Summer’s day it had enough tables outside so this is where we asked the waiter to sit. The smell of shisha from other customers brought a nice aroma to the air surrounding us, with a DJ positioned outside just by the doors.

The cocktail menu that we looked at first, delivered a warming mixture of fruit and alcohol, sounding delicious and I was hoping they tasted as good. I was stuck between the pomegranate martini with fresh pomegranate and shaken with grenadine, vodka, lime and Chambord, the pine & passion which mixed fresh pineapple and passion fruit with Havana 3 and coconut and lime or the apple and cinnamon bellini. I chose the martini, the flavours blended together perfectly and it wasn’t too overbearingly sweet and went down a treat with my food!

For the food we decided to pick a dish each and share a starter. One of my friends went for the Hummus Shawarma with lamb which came first and I had a taste of. The hummus was nothing to write home about, but the Lamb Shawarma tasted fresh and the edges were perfectly crispy with the middle being soft and tender, how it should be!

My other friend and I chose a starter to share and a main each. We went for one of my favourite Lebanese starters; the Sujuk which are spicy Armenian lamb sausages pan fried with cherry tomatoes and once we squeezed some lemon on it were good to go. Fried nicely, the sausages have a strong flavour, where you can taste the spices and spiciness of them.

My friend chose for her main a stew she normally has home-cooked called Bamia. This is a traditional stew with okra in tomato sauce with lamb and vermicelli rice. I guess you can’t ever get it cooked better than a good home-cooked one and but she did say it was nice!

I opted for a safe option of a Kafta which is skewers of charcoal grilled ground lamb finely spiced. I ordered a side of vermicelli rice to go with it, although the waiter kept bringing bread and I had 3 skewers when it came so it was a large portion. I was disappointed that the salad it came with was literally just red cabbage, they could have made an effort to put lettuce some onions and tomatoes in it. The Kafta was cooked perfectly and was the meat was juicy and spiced enough.

They gave us lovely pastries afterwards as a complement and to be honest these were the nicest Lebanese sweets I have had ever. I’m not big into desserts but I couldn’t stop eating these!

A couple members of the Bloodline crew, Bossman Birdie and Meridian Dan as well as Skepta from Boy Better Know come together for “Wristbands”. Growing up on Meridian Walk all together and being part of one crew previously, it’s no surprise to see these three working together. The track is about their status as artists, being able to access all areas and about respect and loyalty.

Rudimental ft. Anne-Marie & Dizzee Rascal – Love Ain’t Just A Word

Rudimental have been giving festival-goers tasters of what to expect from their new forthcoming album We The Generation especially with this new track “Love Ain’t Just A Word”. It features the lovely vocals of Anne-Marie and a verse from grime legend Dizzee Rascal who talks about the love in music, people, our maker and more.

J Spades ft. Mostack , Swift, J Hus & Grizzy – Nobody

When it comes to UK rap, J Spades is one of the hardest and respected straight out of Hackney. As an older sometimes you have to help the younger generation, and this is what he has done bringing together some of the hottest names that are coming up in the game right now; Mostack, Swift (Section Boyz), J Hus & Grizzy. This will be on his forthcoming release MMMP3.

Abel Miller ft J Spades – Angel Blues

UK R&B singer Abel Miller has already built a solid fanbase and reputation for himself even though he is still young in the game; he has been releasing strong material for a few years now. He premiered his brand new club single “Angel Blues” earlier this week for our enjoyment, showing off his vocal talents and bringing in J Spades for a feature. This is the second single to be heard off his forthcoming EP Patience.

Bugzy Malone – Hulk Smash

Bugzy Malone has been smashing it recently, gaining more and more fans all over the country with his hard bars and real lyrics. The Mancunian rapper delivers again oh his “Hulk Smash” freestyle over a Z Dot production giving us his thoughts on the music scene, delivering the bars with such passion and fierceness. His Walk With Me EP is due out on July 24and he has a headline show at Islington 02 this week too!

Eastern Electrics may only be in its fourth year, but the festival has garnered a great following – with this year expanding to 8 stages, catering to varied electronic acts with a very appetising line-up. Taking place on August 1 at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, there are still a number of tickets left that are selling as we speak, so grab them whilst there is still time!

Let’s talk DJs now and who will be playing! The soundtrack to the main stage will see icon Jamie Jones deliver a closing set as the sun goes down. Techno staple Nick Curly from Germany and the man behind Fuse London, Enzo Siraguasa will also be present, along with king of techno house Matthias Tanzmann.

The Big Top stage will see DJ Skream’s brand Skreamizm host and bring some high class DJ’s with cutting edge sounds. Skream of course will be present bringing the beats and vibes along with Boddika, electronic act Midland, Detroits Floorplan, Richy Ahmed and Jasper James.

Black Butter Records a ground-breaking UK label will be taking to the Forest to bring the bass. They will bring UK garage legend DJ EZ who will be cutting up some classics, along with a host of the labels starts such as Mele,My Nu Leng, Woz, Wayward, Applebottom and Tazer. This stage will be definitely not be one to be missed for us as they always bring unique, fresh and exiting sounds.

The Star Of EE Pub will bring some music legends to the stage such as garage star Matt Jam Lamont, as well as The Streets Mike Skinner who will show his skills as a DJ, and UK clubland’s Jon Carter. You will also be able to catch London party starters Michael Bibi, Two and Eight and Capulet along with EE’s protégé Jordan Mina.

Sankeys provide another killer stage for the Ibiza lovers with headliner vIVA chief and Steve Lawler and starring Outcross Records boss and Hot Creations family Miguel Campell along with some of the brightest underground gifted DJ’s from Hamburg’s Sidney Chales to Berlin’s Sante along with Jozef K and Manu Gonzalez.

Other stages include The Switchyard where global underground goddess TINI will be bringing some special DJ’s such as Detroits Godfather of house Delano Smith, techno maverick Jichael Mackson and more. XOYO & Sink The Pink present Gloria’s Cabert with DJ’s Mag’s breakthrough producer of 2013 Citizenn bringing the beats, The 2 Bears, Horse Meets Disco and more.

The VIP area will hear a hip hop set from Miguel Campell, Kuible will be playing disco classics, EE regular Matt Tolfrey will go back to back with Geddes and many more will be bringing the vibes all day.

Electric Daisy Carnival is one if not the biggest dance festivals in the UK – taking place at the brilliant venue, Milton Keynes Bowl this past Saturday (July 11). Let’s take it back first and give you a little bit of history on the reputable festival. It began in 1997 in Los Angeles as a rave style event by co-founder of Insomniac, Pasquale Rotella. Now it moves all around America from Texas, New York and outside of the states in Puerto Rico and the UK!

Over 35,000 people headed to the Bowl, a large space that allowed festival goers to explore free at the Milton Keynes setting. As we entered, the looming Kinetic CATHEDRAL stage, that was shipped-in from America was set at 90 foot tall and 240 foot wide with blazing flames, waterfalls set on the stage, and the symbolic owls with their glaring eyes that moved every so often watching over the ravers.

EDC isn’t just about the music, it’s literally a playground of fun with carnival rides art installations which mold glass, fire, metal and lights into interactive displays with performers such as dancers, stilters, aerialists, circus performers and more.

Arriving at 3pm we managed to reach the circuitGROUNDS hosted by Bassrush to firstly catch half of Mistajam’s set where he played old skool classics and some cheese, warming everyone up for the drum & bass sets to come. Shy FX then came on to bring the classics such as “Feelings”, “Shake Your Body” and more with host Stamina. Drum & Bass duo Sigma then touched the stage playing hits such as “Nobody To Love”.

We headed to the main KineticCATHEDRAL stage to catch Dutch electronic dance act Sick Individuals who have had No.1 singles worldwide who played a pretty astonishing set living up to their credentials as rising stars. Rushing back to the circuitGROUNDS stage to catch one of my favourite DJ’s Friction. He smashed his set playing tracks such as ‘Kingpin’ which features P Money & Scrufizzer.

Welsh DJ High Contrast was up next on the same stage who is part of the Hospital Records family and produced one of my ultimate favourite tracks ‘”If We Ever” which he played half way through the set made the crowd stay still hyped after Friction and smashed track after track. I left after that track to catch a bit of Steve Aoki from North America at the main stage who mellowed the tone after the D&B playing his famous house tracks.

Only a few acts left and I headed back to CircuitGROUNDS to watch Sub Focus and then back to the main stage to watch Tiesto who mixed up his set with an Ashanti beat and played Drake’s ‘Crew Love’ in between dance classics. The setting on the kinceticCATHEDRAL while he was playing was magical, as the lazer show kicked off through the hour set in the sky and the whole stage was lit up as people swarmed to the main arena. The lights were captivating and everyone was up dancing watching the fireworks which went off all throughout the set.

A new one from the Dirtee Stank camp comes “Cuss Match” from South London spitter Merky Ace. Ahead of his Peak Levels EP which drops on July 17, he brings the war on a devilish beat produced by one half of Newham Generals, Footsie. The video was directed by Dizzee Rascal himself and also sees him make a cameo appearance, along with Footsie in the ghostly and eerie setting.

Izzie Gibbs – Swear Down

Izzie Gibbs is gearing up to release his EP Justsu and shows us what’s to come with his first track to be heard from it “Swear Down”. He takes it back to the old school Grime days with the beat, and proves why he is one to watch with his sharp and clever wordplay and lively delivery.

Rejjie Snow – All Around The World

Rejjie Snow is known for his unique take on hip-hop and has been rising steadily since the release of his debut EP Rejovich. His new track “All Around The World” sees Johnny Deep’s 16-year old daughter Lily-Rose play a smitten fan who Rejjie picks out from the crowd. Production comes from Chance The Rapper affiliate Cam O’bi along with a poignant melody.

Novelist – War

Novelist is one of grime’s most powerful, up and coming MCs and has been working non-stop. He uses the Jon E Cash classic riddim “War” to deliver 3 and half minutes of intense and menacing bars. He definitely doesn’t hold back on the snarling instrumental where he is cheeky and threatening all at the same time.

Renowned Sheffield Grime artist Coco drops a fresh, new track “Target Practice” with production from another Sheffield native and legendary BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ Toddla T. Coco really shines on this track as he goes in hard with his bars with straight fire and no hooks over a dark, sub heavy instrumental. Watch out for him as he has started to become on tastemakers radars and is one to watch.

Ivy lab – Focus

Ahead of their Fabric appearance, Ivy Lab drop “Focus” as a free download. The London trio of prolific D&B producers give us a treat with this track for a dancefloor filler, velvet roller that has both harsh and smooth elements too it. It has an emotive depth to it too. If you like what you hear make sure you head down to catch them in EC1.

Fekky ft Skepta – Way Too Much

It’s been around a year since Fekky and Skepta linked up for a collaboration for a remix. Now they join forces again for Fekky’s brand new single “Way Too Much” where Boy Better Know’s Skepta provides the hook and a verse over the minimal production, allowing the lyrics to take center stage. This is UK music at it’s best, with road rap and Grime joining for a banging track. Fekky’s album El Clasico will be dropping soon too.

Youngs Teflon – Run DMC

South London MC Youngs Teflon returns with “Run DMC” bringing the Summer vibes with his video. The instrumental has a melancholic, ethereal feel with Tefs dropping some truthful, hard-hitting bars.